I don’t think he does qualify for England actually. He’s about 3 months shy in terms of residency but I guess it’s possible they’re trying to rewrite history as to when he moved across...

He did an interview at one point where he said something like that his heart was with Ireland but there was pressure from his club (Arsenal) to play for England and his agent and England’s coaches and facilities were world class and the feeling was it would help his development.

His father Reginald also downplayed it saying that England approached him before Ireland did and he was more focussed on playing club football for now and establishing himself as a senior player.

Robbie should be having a word with Duffer about him and Mikey Johnstone and getting them both on board. Okoflex is every bit as talented as Connell and Obafemi and Parrott and every other young player in Ireland right now. If it takes Stephen Kenny saying, let’s get you in amongst the 21s now and create a path to you being part of our World Cup 2022 squad, that’s what should be done. For all the great things we’re doing at youth level, you can’t continually lose the best talent to other countries - be it guys like Grealish and Rice who came through our international set up - or Okoflex at Kevin’s...

Re: Okoflex, if he's that good, why is he at Celtic? The Scottish youth system is the last place you'd want to be developing promising young Irish players. A lot of clubs here (including Celtic) have quit the reserve league due to the poor standard of competition so they only play meaningless friendlies outside of the first team. Also Lennon is a bit of a dinosaur in footballing terms and is not someone I'd want anywhere near our best young players.

In terms of his eligibility as far as I know he only qualifies for us and presumably Nigeria. Could qualify for Scotland in about four years time I suppose.

Brendan Rodgers basically sold it to him. Brendan said that he brought Raheem Sterling into the first team as a regular at 17, that he intrinsically trusted young players and gave himself credit for developing Raheem to the point where he was a £50m player at 21. He said he saw as much potential in Armstrong and he promised him a fast pathway straight to the first team. They also came up with a contract that reflected that valuation.

Re: Okoflex, if he's that good, why is he at Celtic? The Scottish youth system is the last place you'd want to be developing promising young Irish players. A lot of clubs here (including Celtic) have quit the reserve league due to the poor standard of competition so they only play meaningless friendlies outside of the first team. Also Lennon is a bit of a dinosaur in footballing terms and is not someone I'd want anywhere near our best young players.

In terms of his eligibility as far as I know he only qualifies for us and presumably Nigeria. Could qualify for Scotland in about four years time I suppose.

A lot of excellent players have used Celtic as a springboard. Van Djik the best example most recently

Van Dijk didn't come through their youth system though. It's a different story if you can go straight into first team football in Scotland, which is why I could potentially see it as a suitable route for someone like Connell. It's at underage/reserve level that the problems exist, and that's where Okoflex has been since he moved here.

Van Dijk didn't come through their youth system though. It's a different story if you can go straight into first team football in Scotland, which is why I could potentially see it as a suitable route for someone like Connell. It's at underage/reserve level that the problems exist, and that's where Okoflex has been since he moved here.

Kieran Tierney is an excellent young player who has come through the ranks.

He's very much a one off though. And, to be honest, we'll only find out if he's as good as the hype in time when he moves on. Before him though, who was the last genuine quality player to come through at Celtic having been developed fully through their youth system? Maloney or McGeady maybe. That's 15 years ago. I can't think of any player in any of the major European leagues at the moment who was a product of the Celtic youth academy.

FWIW I always thought McGeady would have been a far better player if he'd been developed somewhere other than Scotland. He got away with a lot here as a young player because he was so much more talented than everyone else, if he'd been in a more competitive environment he'd have had to work on his weaknesses and would have learnt how to deliver a final ball to match his skills game as a winger. Was found out a bit when he finally made it to England.

Anyway, I've seen the youth development setup here at fairly close quarters over the last decade or more. I just don't rate it at all, there's a reason why Scotland haven't qualified for a major finals yet this century.

FWIW I always thought McGeady would have been a far better player if he'd been developed somewhere other than Scotland. He got away with a lot here as a young player because he was so much more talented than everyone else, if he'd been in a more competitive environment he'd have had to work on his weaknesses and would have learnt how to deliver a final ball to match his skills game as a winger. Was found out a bit when he finally made it to England.

That's just inaccurate. His career was very much on the downward spiral when he came to England, and it was plainly the wrong move for him. Some players aren't suited to English football. That Veron bloke was pretty decent, but if you judged him on his time in Eng, you'd question him.

That's what I love about these high school girls, man. I get older, they stay the same age